


Spirits in My Head and They Won’t Go

by KittyDemon9000



Series: Ninjago Gets Hurt [3]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Caves, Child Death, Cole-centric, Fear of Abandonment, Ghosts, Not even a body, Spitits, but not explicit or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26778478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyDemon9000/pseuds/KittyDemon9000
Summary: The plan had been to stay in one big group, but it seemed like fate had other plans.Barely five steps into the cave, the floor had collapsed, separating the ninja among the many caverns. The ground was too unstable for Cole to try and open up new tunnels, so he was stuck using the already existing ones.So now Cole was alone, in the dark, with only a small lamp for light and no idea where he or the others were.And on top of everything else, his scar was absolutely throbbing. It had since they first entered the cave, and it only seemed to get worse with every step he took. Spectacular.
Series: Ninjago Gets Hurt [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932640
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Spirits in My Head and They Won’t Go

The cave was very dark with the only light source coming from the small lamp Kai had lit.

The four ninja had been receiving many warnings, calls, and even letters about the cave and the legends surrounding it, and had eventually decided to check it out for themselves.

The plan had been to stay in one big group, but it seemed like fate had other plans.

Barely five steps into the cave, the floor had collapsed, separating the ninja among the many caverns. The ground was too unstable for Cole to try and open up new tunnels, so he was stuck using the already existing ones.

So now Cole was alone, in the dark, with only a small lamp for light and no idea where he or the others were.

And on top of everything else, his scar was absolutely  _ throbbing _ . It had since they first entered the cave, and it only seemed to get worse with every step he took.  _ Spectacular _ .

There were small moments like this where he missed being a ghost. He would have been able to find the others so easily if he could just travel through walls.

_ Hello. _

Cole jumped, snapping his head around trying to locate where The Voice had come from.

“Who’s there!” He exclaimed. He didn’t expect whoever it was to answer, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

_ A friend. Someone who wants to help. _

The Voice, if you could even call it that, was strange. There wasn’t any sound to it, but it was clear as day. It was as if someone had written the words in his head, but there were no letters to be seen. 

It set him on edge.

“Is that so?” Cole asked. He scanned the tunnel again.

_ You can’t find me that way. _

"Oh, really? Cole said aloud. “Then how can I find you?”

Cole jumped as a ball of small green fire appeared in front of him. Then another. And another and another and another. They bathed the cave in an eerie green glow as a clear line of the strange orbs led further down the tunnel.

_ Follow the Wisps. _

_ And once you find me, I can get you out. _

“And why would you help me?” Cole asked aloud. ‘ _ If that’s what you’re really doing. _ ’ He thought to himself. 

“For all I know, you could be leading me straight into a trap. Or keep me down here forever!”

_ Because I know what it’s like to be left behind. _

Those words left a chill down Cole’s spine. 

“What…..what do you mean?” He hesitantly asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.

_ Your so-called friends left you, did they not? _

“What are you talking about? They haven’t left me!” Cole exclaimed, anger seeping into his voice.

_ Take a look. _

The wisp closest to him came closer. Cole watched it with hesitancy, reading to bolt at a moment's notice, but much to his surprise, in the center of the fire were the other ninja!

All of them were gathered in a group, seemingly safe from harm. They all had a greenish tint, but Cole choked that up to the green wisp.

“What do you mean we should leave Cole behind!” Jay’s shrill yelling echoed in the tunnel.

Cole stopped. Were they going to leave him behind?

“I’m not saying that! I’m just-“ Lloyd said, but he was cut off by Jay again.

“No, that’s exactly what you’re saying!” Jay yelled, taking a step toward Lloyd and jabbing a finger in his direction. “We can’t just leave him in there!”

Cole couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Zaptrap.” He whispered under his breath.

“If we go in now, we’ll just get lost!” Lloyd argued back.

“Calm down Jay. Lloyd has a point.” Nya said, placing a hand on Jay’s shoulder.

Those words felt like a punch in the gut. Nya was agreeing that they should leave without him.

Jay seemed to share his sentiment and looked at her with an incredulous face. Nya made a motion to Kai, probably asking him to back her up.

Kai hesitantly glanced behind him. “I’m with Jay on this one. The longer Cole’s in there, the more likely he is to get hurt.”

Then Zane jumped in. “But if we go in now without a plan or more surprise, we could get hurt ourselves.”

The warmth Kai’s words had given him was quickly stamped out by the cold ones of Zane. Yes, he understood that Zane was the logical one…...but was he really thinking that leaving him behind was the best option.

Lloyd let out a sigh. “So it’s decided. We’ll all head back to Master Yang’s temple.”

“No! No, it’s not decided!” Jay shrieked again, but this time Kai was the one to stop him, silently shaking his head with a sober look on his face. He whispered something to Jay, but Cole couldn’t hear. The group slowly walked out of the frame of the wisp, but not before Jay cast one final look back.

The wisp went back to the line.

_ You see. _

Something wet started dripping down Cole’s face, and when he reached up, he found tears.

It was a lie. A trick. It had to be. His friends.....they wouldn't. Not again......right?

But if this wasn't a trick.....and his friends really had left him...... then this was just like the Day of the Departed.

“So how did you get here then?” Cole asked, his voice wavered slightly as he wiped the tears from his eyes. If he was going to be stuck here, he might as we learn things about his only company.

The voice hesitated, before two more wisps broke away from the line, sending another throb through his scar. Much to his shock, the wisps started changing and growing until they took the form of two small children, each one no taller than his waist.

The two were smiling, dancing, and playing in a way that reminded Cole fondly of his own childhood.

_ I wasn’t always stuck here. _

The children were hand and hand as they started running down the tunnel. Not wanting to lose them, Cole was quick to follow.

_ We wanted to go on an adventure together, experience what the world had to offer. _

The two children reached a crossroads, unsure which was to go. They eventually picked the left tunnel. Cole followed, but it was a dead end.

_ Neither of us knew where we were going, and we got lost. _

The two children started yelling at each other, but no sound was coming from their mouths.

_ Julie wanted to keep looking to try and find a way out while I wanted to stay put. _

One of the children, Julie, pushed the other away and stormed toward the tunnel.

_ “You can stay here if you want,” she said. “But I’m going to find a way out!” _

And then all the wisps but the first child disappeared.

_ I waited and waited, hoping that on the off chance she’d made it out, that she’d come back for me. _

The room was much darker with only the one wisp, and it was rapidly growing smaller.

_ She never did. _

The wisp went out.

The only thing left to light the cave was the lamp and Cole’s scar.

_ Ever since that day, I swore that if I somehow made it out, I’d do everything in my power to make sure no one would be left behind like I was ever again. _

The voice let out an empty chuckle, one that struck a chord in Cole.

_ A rather unrealistic goal, I know. _

“I don’t think so.” Cole found himself saying. He felt the confused silence, so he continued. “I mean, it definitely wouldn’t be easy, but I do think you could make a difference.”

_ …….you really are different than her. _

Cole’s confusion was short-lived, as a plethora of wisps ignited around him, giving him a good look at the cave he was now in. Stalagmites and stalactites littered the edges, but the center was different.

In the middle of the room was a small podium with a scythe. It is a dark, black metal with small green gemstones embedded at the end of the handle and parts of the blade. It was an elegant weapon and the designs that littered it were not much unlike the wisps that had led him here.

_ If you take this weapon, you will be granted control over my wisps, and be able to help the lost spirits, living and dead alike. _

Cole couldn’t tear his eyes away from the weapon. Some far off part of him was screaming at him to run away, that this was all a trap that he’d walked into.

But that part was drowned out by his memories. Of becoming a ghost, of the Day of the Departed…….and of the conversation he’d just heard. He remembered the pain of not being seen or heard. Of not existing.

He didn’t want anyone else to feel that.

Cole reached forward and grabbed the scythe.

**Author's Note:**

> Requests can be sent to my tumblr - https://kittydemon9000.tumblr.com/ask
> 
> A drawing I did for this work - https://kittydemon9000.tumblr.com/post/630893875823886336/a-drawing-i-did-for-my-story-spirits-in-my-head


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